Making good decisions involving high stakes and uncertainty requires a significantly different mindset from an organization's default decision-making process, which is typically dictated by culture, hierarchy, personalities, data, and haste. The methods described in this book, honed over decades by the US Intelligence Services, emphasize discipline, objectivity, diversity, reason, and transparency. Most importantly, they don't interfere with the way your organization makes its high-stakes decisions. Instead, they add a protective layer of analytics that either validates a good decision, or exposes the flaws which could lead to catastrophic consequences. Regardless of your organization's risk tolerance, these methods will show you where a high-stakes decision you have to make lies on the uncertainty spectrum and what, if any, actions you can take to nudge the needle to the left.
